NEW YORK -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry's decision to veto legislation that would have banned the execution of mentally retarded criminals is a setback to the elimination of a barbaric policy that has almost universal repudiation. This decision comes at the same time as the release from prison -- where he spent 22 years -- of Jerry Frank Townsend, a mentally retarded man who had confessed to six murders that he didn't commit. DNA evidence was able to do for him what the justice system was unable to do: prove his innocence.
According to Miami authorities, Townsend has an IQ of between 50 and 60. An IQ below 70 classifies a person as mentally retarded. Mental retardation -- a condition that is present since childhood -- is different from mental illness, which may appear at any time, although the two may coexist in the same person.
There are several difficulties involved in taking the mentally retarded through the justice system. One of them, as exemplified by Townsend's case, is that, in their desire to please, the mentally retarded may confess to crimes that they didn't commit. In addition, they are less able to help attorneys in preparing their own defense, and their apparent lack of emotion during the proceedings plays against their own interests. Given these facts, the possibility of executing innocent people is high.